Gallery

THE ORIENTALIST PHOTOGRAPHY PROJECT

About this collection

rainworld archive houses one of Austria’s best collections of 19th & 20th century photographs from the Maghreb and the former Ottoman Empire. Pre-photographic visual documents complement the extensive inventory of vintage photographs. Online exhibitions on the topic of orientalism and specific photographers will be posted here.

100 VIEWS OF THE PYRAMIDS AND

THE SPHINX

Wilhelm Hammerschmidt, the sphinx, mid 1860s. Albumen print.

Wilhelm Hammerschmidt, The Pyramid and the sphinx, mid 1860s. Albumen print carte de visite.

H. Léon, the sphinx and pyramids, mid 1870s.

Albumen print cabinet card

Francis Frith, 1857, The Sphynx and the Great Pyramid, at Geezeh. Albumen print stereoview

THE PYRAMIDS OF GIZA

A path that is still quite well preserved leads from the Chephren pyramid in Giza to the so-called Valley Temple of Chephren . This temple, which is directly adjacent to the pit with the Sphinx and next to the so-called Sphinx Temple, is a special feature that usually receives far too little attention. The temple is dedicated to Pharaoh Chephren because some statues of Chephren were found there during the excavations.

Zangaki, 1880s, Vue génerale des Pyramides. Albumen print.

A. Bonfils, Beyrouth, 1890s, 7. Vue générale des Pyramides. Collotype

Bonfils, 1880s, 107. Le Caire, Pyramide de Chéfren. Albumen print, 27.9 x 22.1 cm

BK Paris (J.A.) Grande pyramide, du pyramide de Kheops a Gizeh. Albumen print (hold to light) stereoview

Zangaki, 1880s, No.414. Village arabe et Pyramides. Albumen print.

The first photographs of the pyramids (and the sphinx) appear to be taken by French writer and amateur photographer Maxime du Camp in 1849. They were published in 1852. A bit later Félix Teynard made photographs in 1853/1854, which were published by Adolphe Goupil. Around the same time French/American John Beasley Greene, a student of Gustave Le Gray, completed his images of Egyptian archaeological sites including the pyramids and the sphinx. British photographer Francis Frith travelled a few years later to Egypt. He did some excellent photographs of the same subject in 1857 (publ. 1858), and then – many others followed: J. Pascal Sébah (Turkish, 1823–1886), Luigi Fiorillo (Italian, 1847?–1898), Hippolyte Arnoux (French, active ca. 1860 – ca. 1890), the Zangaki Brothers, Armenian painter and photographer Gabriel Lekegian (1853 – c. 1920)

In contrast to other examples of early travel photography, photographing the pyramids was not that difficult, even in the early days of the medium: good light conditions, a dry climate, and the bold structure of the motif were in favor of the then complicated photographic process with fragile glass plates and long exposure times. Still the early photographs of Egyptian antiquities do not show any people living around them. Although quite a few images show blurry figures, exposure times below one minute would have allowed to portray people if they were not moving, But it was the monuments early photographer were interested in, not the indigenous people. Only later images such as Frith’s photographs featured people: but they were there just for scale.

Zangaki, 1880s, 440. Pyramide. Albumen print.

L. Fiorillo, 1880s, 187. Les Pyramides pendant l’inondation. Albumen print.

Quite a few images show the pyramids during the Nile flood – usually with camel riders or farmers standing in the shallow water. The pyramids were built on a flood plain that suffered catastrophic inundation on a regular basis throughout history.

Zangaki, 1880s, No.139. Les 3 Pyramides et le Nil. Caire. Albumen print.

Zangaki, 1880s, 440. Pyramides. Albumen print.

H. Arnoux, 1870s, No.609 La Grand pyramide de Chéops. Albumen print

Otto Gries, 1930s stereo glass plate positive.

The Pyramids of Giza. Amateur photo, around 1930. Stereoview negative.

Anonymous, 1930s stereoview negative.

Egypt. The Pyramids and the Sphinx, 1900s relief postcard

Unidentified photographer, the pyramids. c. 1980s.

Medium format color slide, 6 x 6 cm

Egypt. Viewmaster reel. 1950s

THE PYRAMIDS AND TOURISM

The Giza Pyramids had already attracted thousands of tourists in the 19th century. A camel ride around the Pyramids had become an essential part of the tourist program with pictures taken on camelback in front of the pyramids. This stereotype is carried on until the present.

Climbing the Great Pyramid remained an essential Egyptian experience until the mid 1960s, when the Egyptian government banned it on the grounds of safety – although pyramid climbing is still practiced illegally.

Photographie Artistique G.[Gabriel] Lekegian, 1880s, Climbing the pyramids.

Albumen print.

Climbing the pyramid. Glass plate positive.

Unidentified photographer (edited by Ingersoll?), 830. Tourists on Camels Viewing Sphinx and Pyramids, Cairo, Egypt. Litho print stereoview

Unidentified photographer, around 1900. Tourists at the Sphinx and Pyramids. Collodion paper print, 22.9 x 17 cm

Otto Gries, 1930s stereo glass plate positive.

In front of the pyramid. Amateur photo, around 1950. Gelatin silver print.

G.M. Georgoulas, tourists on camels at the pyramids, 1928. Gelatin silver print

Being in the pyramids tourist photography business, Greek photographer G. [George/Giorgios] M. Georgoulas had the rare opportunity to photograph the delegates of the Cairo Conference (a meeting of Britains’s Middle East experts) in 1921 in front of the pyramids. One of the delegates was British archaeologist, army officer, diplomat, and writer T. E. Lawrence, better known as ”Lawrence of Arabia.” who was then working for Winston Churchill.

Tourist group posing at the Pyramids and the Sphinx, 1930s real photo postcard

THE SPHINX

The sphinx still under sand. Albumen print, 1870s

The Great Sphinx of Giza is a limestone statue of a reclining, mythical creature with the head of a human and the body of a lion.

The sphinx is said to date to the time of Khafre. This is supported by the proximity of the sphinx to Khafre's pyramid temple complex, and a certain resemblance (despite damage) to the facial structure seen in his statues. The Great Sphinx of Giza may have been carved out as a guardian of Khafre's pyramid, and as a symbol of royal power. It became deified during the time of the New Kingdom.

The face of the Sphinx appears to represent the pharaoh Khafre.[Chephrên]. The original shape of the Sphinx was cut from the bedrock, and has since been restored with layers of limestone blocks. It measures 73 m long from paw to tail, 20 m high from the base to the top of the head and 19 m wide at its rear haunches.

The Sphinx is the oldest known monumental sculpture in Egypt. The archaeological evidence suggests that it was created by ancient Egyptians of the Old Kingdom during the reign of Khafre (c.2558–2532 BC).

The circumstances surrounding the Sphinx's nose being broken off are uncertain, but close inspection suggests a deliberate act using rods or chisels. Contrary to a popular myth, it was not broken off by cannonfire from Napoleon's troops during his 1798 Egyptian campaign. Its absence is in fact depicted in artwork predating Napoleon and referred to in descriptions by the 15th-century historian al-Maqrīzī.

Most early Western images were book illustrations in print form, elaborated by a professional engraver from either previous images available or some original drawing or sketch supplied by an author, and usually now lost. In 1817, the first modern archaeological dig, supervised by the Italian Giovanni Battista Caviglia, uncovered the Sphinx's chest completely. In the beginning of the year 1887, the chest, the paws, the altar, and plateau were all made visible. Flights of steps were unearthed, and finally accurate measurements were taken of the great figures.

In 1926 the Sphinx was cleared of sand under direction of Baraize, which revealed an opening to a tunnel at floor-level at the north side of the rump. It was subsequently closed by masonry veneer and nearly forgotten. More than fifty years later, the existence of the passage was recalled by three elderly men who had worked during the clearing as basket carriers. This led to the rediscovery and excavation of the rump passage, in 1980.

G. Lekegian, c. 1890s, Sphinx de Ghizeh; printed later 1900s. Gelatin silver print

Peridis, c. 1890s, the Sphinx; albumen print

Peridis, c. 1890s, the Sphinx; albumen print; detail: photographer waiting for clients next to the sphinx

The great sphinx partially excavated c. 1878,

albumen print

J.P. Sébah, 264. Sfinx; albumen print, 27 x 21.3 cm

After Napoleon's military invasion of Egypt at the end of the 18th century, Egyptomania has taken hold of Europe, in art, literature and fashion. Egyptology became an academic discipline in Europe, and the African country experienced a surprising rise of tourism. The photographic technology only helped fan the enthusiasm of many Egyptolgoists and tourists. Egypt's unique place in photography history is quiet special. It can be said, that it is the beginning of what we now call travel photography, and it was the most photographed foreign place for Europeans.

In 1850 the first photos of Egypt were published in Europe and over the following fifty years at least 250 amateur and professional photographers would visit the country for shorter or longer periods. They came from Europe as well as from the numerous far-flung corners of the Ottoman Empire.

cf. In Egypt

Travellers and Photographers, 1850–1900

11.03.2017 — 04.06.2017

Photographs of Hagia Sophia and the Great Pyramid of Giza satisfied Western demand for views of ancient sites and reinforced stereotypes of Asia and the Middle East as temporally static—undying pasts.

Other images like the Underwood & Underwood stereographs, collapsed space, enabling armchair visitors to tour Egypt, for example, in three dimensions with a viewing device and guidebook.

“Born in Berlin, Wilhelm Hammerschmidt was already a professional photographer when he settled in Cairo, Egypt, around 1860. There he established the Hammerschmidt shop, where he sold photographic materials to other early photographers such as Henry Cammas. Hammerschmidt exhibited ten views of Egypt at the Société Française de Photographie in 1861 before becoming a member the following year. He also made costume and ethnographic studies, exhibiting those at the Exposition Universelle in Paris in 1867. Hammerschmidt also made photographs in Syria and Nubia, now Sudan” (Wilhelm Hammerschmidt / J. Paul Getty Museum online). Hammerschmidt is considered one of first photographers to produce high quality detailed images of Egypt and his travels and photographs of Upper Egypt and Nubia predate popular tourism in Egypt. He appears to have collaborated with the pioneering photo chemist Hermann Wilhelm Vogel (1834-1898) which would explain the high quality of Hammerschmidt's photographs.

Maison Bonfils was started by Felix Bonfils (1831-1885) in Beirut in 1867 and was "to become one of the most successful photographic businesses in the world. They photographed most of the important sights in the Middle East and their views were widely distributed" (Jacobsen p. 216). Bonfils' "stock had variety enough to please all and ranged from classical landscapes and biblical scenes to ethnographic portraits” (Perez, p. 141).

Stage design for ”La Legende du Nil“ at the Folies Bergère in Paris. Photo by Walery.

Image shows a stage prop depicting a pharaoh’s bust wearing the Nemes head scarf, symbolizing the Pharaoh’s power, both in life and death.

Underwood & Underwood, 1896, The Great Sphinx, the Marvel of the Ages, Egypt. Albumen print stereoview

Underwood & Underwood, 1900s, The great Sphinx of Gizeh, the largest royal portrait ever hewn. Collodion paper print stereoview

Ed. Liesegang, Düsseldorf (ed.), 1910s,

8710 Wunderwerke der Baukunst. Pyramide und Sphinx

Hand-colored glass slide, 8.4 x 8.4 cm

c. 1910s,

Sphinx

Glass slide, 8.4 x 8.4cm

Otto Gries, 1930s stereo glass plate positive.

THE TEMPLE OF CHAFFRA (THE SPHINX TEMPLE)

Bonfils, 1880, Sphynx, grande pyramide et le temple de Chaffra. Albumen print, 27.9 x 21.6 cm

Pascal Sebah, 1880, Pyramide de Chêops, le Sphynx et le Temple de Chafra, Gyzèh. Albumen print, 33.7 x 25.6 cm

Khafre's pyramid complex consists of a valley temple, the Sphinx temple, a causeway, a mortuary temple, and the king's pyramid. The valley temple yielded several statues of Khafre. Several were found in a well in the floor of the temple by Mariette in 1860.

There are at least two temples associated with the Great Sphinx of Giza, one dates back to the Old Kingdom (circa 2686–2181 BCE) and second is from the New Kingdom (circa 1600-1070 BCE). The older one sits directly at the foot of the Great Sphinx. The second lies to the north-east of the Sphinx and is dated back to the New Kingdom.

Unidentified photographer, c. 1910s, pyramid and sphinx. Glass slide, 8.4 x 8.4cm

Egyptian Museum. Glass plate positive.

The pharao Khafre (romanized ”Chephrên”) .

Eyptian Museum, Cairo.

Glass plate positive.

Chephrên was the pharaoh of the Fourth Dynasty during the Old Kingdom. He built the second-largest pyramid at Giza.

The pyramid has a subsidiary pyramid, labeled G2-a. It is not clear who was buried there. Sealings have been found of a King's eldest son of his body etc. and the Horus name of Khafre.

THE PYRAMID OF DJOSER

W. Hammerschmidt, The pyramid of Djoser, sometimes called the Step Pyramid of Djoser. Albumen print, 1870s.

The Step Pyramid of Djoser is an archaeological site in the Saqqara necropolis, northwest of the ruins of Memphis. The 6-tier, 4-sided structure is the earliest colossal stone building in Egypt. It was built in the 27th century BC during the Third Dynasty for the burial of Pharaoh Djoser.

Otto Gries, 1930s stereo glass plate positive.